Why didn't The Germans attack at Dunkirk?
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- Опубліковано 31 січ 2021
- Why didn't The Germans attack at Dunkirk?
The Battle of Dunkirk may have been one of the most decisive moments in World War Two history. In a miraculous escape from nearly complete destruction, the British Expeditionary Force managed to flee the grasp of the German Panzers and live to see another day. Many view the evacuation and its aftermath as the turning point for the war as a whole, while others, at a minimum, cannot deny the simple fact that had the Germans continued their attack, the British would not have been so lucky by any stretch.
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♦Sources :
Thompson, Major General Julian. Dunkirk: Retreat to Victory. London: Pan Books, 2009. ISBN 978-0-330-43796-7.
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♦Script & Research :
Skylar Gordon
#History #Documentary
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Make a video about ww1 in africa
@@ItzMeDavid_ the armchair historian had already made a video on it
@@carlneoh5843 He has terrible videos where he puts his dumb political views
@@carlneoh5843 oh
Don't bother those negative people, every creator has different textures the only thing to enjoy is by accepting the fact of styles and tempo ❤
The French troops that held the perimeter around Dunkirk don't get enough credit. Their courage was indispensable to the whole operation.
I mean just imagine being the guy who is told: "Bonjour, Poilou. Stand here and fight as hard as you can so these other guys from another country can get home safely." It would be like "Saving Private Ryan" on a grand scale.
Its something I really wanted to see in the movie Dunkirk. It would have also livened up that sleepy movie.
@@HSMiyamoto
It’s a bit odd isn’t it
40,000 French Troops at Dunkirk were captured, alongside 40,000 British troops. The evacuees in number were also quite similar (190k British and 140k French). The French don't deserve anymore respect than the other British and Belgian men who were captured whilst being the last to be evacuated.
The people who go around saying that the French held off the Germans so the British could escape are either uneducated, or trying to make up some national pride to counter the "Surrender Monkeys" insults
@@55Ironside The Issue is nobody has the same numbers for the prisonners at Dunkirk. I read 80,000 French were captured at Dunkirk...
General von Küchler, commander of the 18th Wehrmacht Army, wrote in his campaign journal during the siege of Dunkirk: “Despite our overwhelming numerical and material superiority, the French are counterattacking in many places. I cannot understand how these soldiers, often fighting one on twenty, still find the strength to repel every attack. It’s amazing. I find in these French soldiers the same flame as in those of Verdun in 1916. "
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To be fair, the French were fighting to protect their homeland, and had their backs against the wall. Both of those cause a man to fight harder
French troops is the saving private ryan in a grand scale save British ass that time without enough credits even on the movie ?
@@beruangloncat Hitler stopped the attack just to let the British go. Anglo-saxon doens't come from just thin air..
@gringo starr Hitler is a politician not a general. He would have made no decision strategies on any field.
His suggestions in Russia front offensive was largely why Germany was defeated and as Berlin was sieged, Hitler was utterly annihilated and committed suicide.
How to not get demonetized: refer to Hitler as "The Chancellor". Genius lmfao
Well he was technically Chancellor but he didn't give away his position with the "Reichsbrandverordnung."
Banning,censoring words irreleveant of context, joseph goebbels would approve of this and support the agenda behind it.
@@jasse85 shut up
@@dougthealligator stfu
Really? Why demonetized tho?
"Lest we forget": My Great Uncle Lt. Ian Thomson died alongside his brethren in the Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Ypres-Comin canal in Belgium as rear-guard on May 28th 1940. Their last orders: "Stand at all costs."
Lest we forget indeed
@@pow474 Yeah i forget him for fighting with the juice
My great grandfather was in dunkirk, he survived and I now have his war medals.
That stuff should be burried with him or personally taken to your city museum or city hall for display.
My grandfather joined up in 1939 for a set of false teeth, & debt to be paid off by the British government he was a Welsh miner who did not have to go to war miners were exempt, and of course thay told him the war will be very short, off he went Dunkirk he ended up, so don't mention false teeth after that experience!!
@@stephenwilliams8302that's impressive!
Did he get a set of false teeth in the end??
Yes he had is false teeth, he was lucky, he lived, I don't know what happened to his medals, but if you got any look after them, over time thay get lost. A better life we all want, life is to short not wars!!
Wow, you might owe your very existence to this mystery.
It occurs to me that the German offensive had overreached its objective, was stretched thin, and vulnerable to counterattack. This while the allies were forming strong defesive positions, which they could hold until they evacuated. A similar scenario played out when the Germans successfully evacuated across the strait of Messina, from Sicily to Italy, with the allies pressuring them into a tight defensive enclave.
Over the years I was proud to know a British army officer who was actually there , he told me that the German army had to halt as they had outrun their supply chain, ( confirmed by a German friend of his after the war ) no way were the British and French armies let off lightly, my friend was among the group of British and French soldiers who kept the enemy at bay for as long as possible to enable the British and French forces to be evacuated, they eventually made a retreat to Dieppe and St Nazareth.
@@rogerjordan3143 yeah I dont think the Germans gave the allies a "sporting chance", the allies out numbered the Germans and it didnt matter much if the allies saved the lives of their men, as long as the heavy equipment was left behind which it was.
Germany forgave them in order to make peace with the United Kingdom, it proved to be a mistake to be merciful since the massacre or capture of the Allied troops would have affected the Allied morale and the opinion of war after massive casualties.
@@rogerjordan3143the germans were tired but they probably could have managed to attack Dunkirk it was Goering that wanted to send the Luftwaffe in to finish the job so he could take all the glory. The German army generals asked Hitler to let the army finish the job.
- May 14, 1940, the very first day of the “Battle for France”, the English Prime Minister Chamberlin resigned, and Holland capitulated!
- May 15, the very second day of the battle, New Prime Minister Churchill immediately decided to leak and refused to send more planes in France while asking the French to protect the leak at Dunkirk. Take care that it is the evacuation that started on May 26: in fact, England started to leak the very first day of the battle (14).
- Belgium also decided to capitulate immediately on May 28 following the English leak, while the best part of the French army was in Belgium and Holland!
Imagine you are a French soldier fighting in Holland or Belgium betrayed by England, Holland and Belgium in your back with the population surrendering to the Germans and furthermore, showing clear sympathy for the Germans! Some isolated French soldiers really thought the war was ended!
The French actually fought well in 1940 when they were not in a war of movement. However, the Germans were about one week too fast for them, and the campaign turned mainly into a war of movement. The Germans never really had an official strategy for the campaign. General Guderian had the closest idea of a strategy, but most of the rest were not sure what to do after the initial breakthroughs occurred. This conflict in goals for the Germans manifested itself around Dunkirk. That said, it was remarkable that the British could get off their troops from Dunkirk and that the French troops fought so well to protect them.
At the start of WW2, the French had tanks that were even superior to the MkIII's the Germans were using, and they were the only country capable of stopping the German advances in Europe. France's surrender was due to incompetent French leadership at the highest levels.
It was remakable that the Wehrmacht give them a chance to get off. No one could stop them at this time.
Poland lasted longer than France did and they had to fight both the Germans and the Soviets. France also had an extremely advanced military at the time and a lot of their equipment was on par with or better than what the Germans had. There's very little excuse for them having surrendered so quickly.
@@winnienguyen4420 But they loose very quickly. Lol
@@brutos8317 yep. Then a bit over a decade later they got kicked out of Vietnam at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. Their military was just pathetic after WW1. Napoleon was probably rolling in his grave.
This video proves the French soldiers didnt just wave the white flag at the sight of the wehrmact. The french soldiers were let down by their commanders.
No not really, 100 000 French evacuated by Brits chose to go back and surrender to Germany as opposed to continuing the fight.
Staying in England wasn't an option for them since France was still at war with germany after Dunkirk so refusing to return to France to fight was considered as an act of treason. Basically, they would've been arrested as deserters if they'd tried to stay. It is worth noting that at this time the Free French didn't exist, it was only after Degaulle's appeal broadcast by the BBC that the resistance began to be a thing on the 18th of June. A little before the capitulation of Vichy, more than 200 000 soliders have been evacuated from some atlantic ports such as Le Havre and Bayonne.
@@eardwulf785 It's general Leclerc who liberated Paris with its second amoured division.
@@eardwulf785 The French are the liberators of Paris. The Allies as a whole are the liberators of France.
@@JoeSmith-sl9bq If you have brain, then you should know that the battle of france didn't end yet, and they had to come back to fight the german. Who the hell would come cack just to surrender?
“Why Didn’t the Germans attack at Dunkirk?”
“It remains a mystery” 8 minutes later
Good point, i wanted to post the same
The truth is. The chancellor didn't want to go to war with the british. And wanted to make peace with Britain in the early years of world war 2. Look up "Hitler's appeal to reason"
he wanted to apease brits
@@the4thindustrialrevolution225 Stupid, in order to seek peace with Britain it would have been way smarter to trade hundreds of thousands of British prisoners, instead of letting them retreat the most part of their army, allowing them de facto the opportunity to continue the war.
One of reasons I deem as reasonable but has been largely ignored is about meth. At that time German soldiers were given a chemical drug that is basically today's meth. The drug makes a person fighting consecutively for up to 7 days, then must have a rest for several days because of the extreme fatigue caused by the use of meth. When German soldiers reached Dunkirk from the scratch line (the Belgium-Germany borderline), 7 days had passed and German soldiers were worn out by meth. They must have a rest for a few days.
"it seems the British will fight to the last French"
Taken from a German soldier journal.
The British fought until 1945 and defeated the Nazis.
How many Brits are buried in France from defending and Liberating France in two World Wars ? .
@@iroscoe
Many
@@aristedecomgmailcom
Quit simplistic.
Jonathan Mark and the french, the american, the russian, the belgian, the polish, the canadian etc etc don't Forget your allies
My guess is that because Hitler saw the Brits as potential allies, he didn’t want to cripple their military too much and permanently spur relations with the Brits. He thought there was a possibility of alliance between them.
Possibly. He wanted russia from the start i believe. Hence when he invaded despite having a treaty with stalin.
This is what he would have said if he were here right now buts that's a farse. Is this why he had the Luftwaffe constantly bombard them or the Kriegsmarine attack any escape boats/ships they could? No it was his own anxiety of the moment and anger towards his generals who he felt were running wild and he knew better. He ordered the halt of movement to consolidate his own forces and to show his generals who was in charge/in command and it ended up costing the Germans by allowing the British to live to fight another day. I am curious how many of these would then go on to serve in or join the RAF soon afterwards in defense of Britain, which if there were many exponentially adds to the crucial nature of this instance in history.
LIES! We all know the brit soldiers got out cus Tom Hardy was flying over the channel.
Call letters KRAY-Z.
I’m glad you find this amusing I’m happy for you
Tom Hardy was so badass, he didn't even need fuel to fly.
The German traditional generals thought they'd gone so far, they needed some time to replenish their forces. The panzer commanders wanted to keep going. HItler was more a traditionalist and wanted a halt; the fact that Goering chimed in, saying he could end this battle from the air sealed it. What also convinced them to hesitate was the tough fight the Allied armor finally put up, especially the Mathilda tank which was poorly armed but invincible protection wise.
Too many ads
Hitler was still hoping the Brits would roll over and sign a peace deal with him.
Who will sign a peace deal faster: an enemy with an army or an enemy without an army?
Well. apparently he did not know the British well. The British had declared war on Germany and as a downed British pilot said. "War is no game of cricket."
@@mimocrocodile5069 both enemies had army
@otto Lincoln Britain has never lost a war with Germany in it's 1000 year existence.
Remember, Britain was always smaller in population to France and Germany, often by a massive amount, 20million or more less than both, but they beat both in the end. France and Spain were smashed in the 19th Century and in the 20th, Germany; twice.
Britain couldn't hope to beat either directly on Land, they are too small in number.
They beat them with higher intelligence by making diplomatic ties and with better technology.
In the end, it doesn't matter how you win - but this is all we know: Britain, always wins.
@@dalegrant9282 England was saved by the La Manche and whatever you say here Germany would put anyone alone with cancer, if as you say England was so strong why did not she fight Germany alone?
my great grand father was at the battle of Dunkirk as well, in the 210ème division d'infanterie. Apparently he didn't talk much of his time there, but my great grandma (still alive to this day, at 100 years old) told us that he stayed in a hole for two days straight and on the third he took a hit in the shoulder. (fun fact : my brother and I both have a dimple exactly where he was it back then, which is probably a coincidence but it's still fucking amazing). He was taken prisoner there.
Thank you for sharing your story! Your great grand father was a hero! God bless your great grandmother
@@Knowledgia my pleasure man ! And that's only one of the things that happened to him during the war! in 1943 he was released by the Germans and when he reach his home village he immediately joined the resistance. He and his mates actually captured two german soldier that were gathering weapons and ammunition in his town to fight the Americans in the battle Le Mans ! And those two Germans stayed at my great grandma's house up until 1946 (I didn't get exactly why but apparently there were problems getting german prisoners back to their country at the time). And according to my great grandma they were nice folks, she kept saying they helped her peel the potatoes at the farm or milk the cows, which is a funny detail when u imagine the picture lol. Anyway thanks for your blessing man, the old lady is still going strong today, taking care of her garden and her chickens haha
I loved the video about your grandpa as well, we often forget how important of a source the stories and testimonies of the modest, contemporary folks can be when studying a topic. It always gives either awesome anecdotes or actual subtil information not mentioned in the history books !
The dimple is most likely an evolutionary trait caused by the bullet wound your great grandfather received. There was evidence where a man lost the tip of his thumb, his offsprings had shorter thumbs right where his was cut.
@@cebonvieuxjack A fellow English expatriate in the Middle East walked with a big limp. He explained that it was from polio or some other disease (memory fails). When he brought he family over I noted at the swimming pool that deformity of the father and son was identical as was their walk., but my friend said that the disease in his son's case was entirely different from the one that cause the father's deformity.
Harry Styles faught bravely in dunkirk.
The hero we didn't asked for but we deserved
Ha!
If he was in the battle he would be one of the firsts killed
Thomas Shelby got shell shocked at Dunkirk.
@@carlosmartins2405 nah he will use his charms to fight the Germans head-on
Last time i was that early Dunkirk wasn't happened yet
Ah yes meaning you were never early lmfao
Hitler knew that most British were of Anglo Saxon origin.
The Angles and Saxons were Germans.
the Franks too....en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks
This was a big part of it. He viewed the British as being fellow Germans, and was hoping letting the army evacuate Dunkirk would result in Britain coming to her senses and forming his much sought after alliance.
My grandfather who is still alive was actually on the HMS Belfast when it was sent to clear the German defences so they could get the troops out at Dunkirk. He did tell me what happened and why they needed to borrow civilian boats to get the troops out.
Sorry, but Belfast wasn't at Dunkirk.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 Yeah. AFAIK she was in dry dock having been damaged by a magnetic mine in November 1939. She only returned to the fleet in 1942.
@@remittanceman4685 Correct.
Your grandfather was lying to you and trying to sound like mega hero. Sorry to tell you this, but check HMS Belfast's history...
Great Video, Thank you for everything you do
Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War,
"When you surround an army, leave an outlet free...
This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape...
it is to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair.'
Perhaps at Dunkirk, the Germans took 'The Art Of War' too literally and seriously. If so, it goes to show you don't read books on war strategy from two and half thousand years ago. It's not applicable.
The Germans could TRY to secure the Channel, if they wanted to have their Navy turn into a reef bed. They had NOTHING to contest the Channel from an incredibly angry Royal Navy which would have loved to crush it before it had the chance to become annoying.
Simple. Because Hitler s dream was to divide the world between Germany and UK. In fact , Hitler admired the British Empire, so he didn t want to be to provocative.
Spot on.
Wait really? Germany is Fascist and UK is constitutional monarchy ( if I'm not mistaken). Britain is a global empire and Germany is a continental one, they practically have nothing in common
@@Lak1148 ,Hitler actually like monarchy and was sad when kaiser wilhelm II was ousted. Plus, Kaiser Wilhelm is a close relative of Queen Victoria (first grandchild of QV) so that's why Hitler deemed British as German's half brother
100% good to see facts in comments
@@Lak1148 Look it up absolutely true
Wow.. Your best video so far.. Amazing, 5he animation is incredible. Good job
Thank you so much !
You left off the brave stand of the garrison in Calais.
Whatever the reason for the German halt to their advance toward Dunkirk for 36 hours, it looks like a miraculous escape that is hard to explain to this day.
The panzers were overextended and needed to resupply, refit, and repair, that's why.
Total bs. They allowed the Brits leave. They showed them mercy.
Which was idiotic.
@@georgeprchal3924 Also the soldiers were exhausted. They relied on meth just to stay energetic that it ruined their health
The Germans underestimated the British navy and their ability to evacuate the troops.
Just like they overestimated their ability to invade with Operation Sea Lion...they just didn't understand sea power.
Gr8 graphical explanation..was looking for something like this to understand the Dunkirk battle better.. tq
UA-cam is getting real comfortable with these two part, no skip ads.
buy youtube premium stop cribbing
Get you tube vanced on your phone or tablet. Its free. Follow on screen instructions. No more adverts, and you can log in as normal. You're welcome
@@e889. it’s a joke. Want to get this channel more engagement too.
Good observation. Worse to come from YT, once the frog adjusts to the higher temperature. .
5:25 Unrealistic German soldier.
The weapon that he is carrying, a STG-44, wasn't yet invented in 1940.
But yeah, they were that tall.
Bruh
The video is legit In 1940
yeah it is in late 1940, they legit said that.
he meant 1944
@@Alkrielm You do understand what I am saying right?
!. The British (and French) infantry retreated faster than the German armour could chase them (having disabled their tanks and artillery knowing that they wouldn't be able to evacuate it. 2. Churchill only become PM the same day the Germans attacked, and the Germans thought they could have negotiate with Chamberlain or Halifax. 3. The Germans didn't want to invade Britain, they wanted control of the continent and a deal with Britain that would leave them their Empire. 4. The Germans overran the BeNeLux and France faster than they thought, so any German plans to invade were incomplete, the Wehrmacht were still finishing off France and need to rest, restock and replenish, the Luftwaffe and Kreigmarine weren't ready to cover a marine invasion. 5. A naval invasion landing would have been very costly in men and material.
Churchill hoped for 45000 troops, he got 325000 due to the bravery of the Navy and RAF as well as the heroic French rear guard. Respects
Yes- MANY HANDS make for lighter work! Too bad that some here simply want to throw mud at white history and to seek to COVER UP how many disasters could have been avoided if LIE-berals had not so strongly preached APPEASEMENT!!
OH GREAT! NOw you are denigrating the BRITISH who fought in the rear guard just as bravely and were eventually CAPTURED in equal numbers with the French rear guard!
Let's not spin it, the Brits and French where humiliated by the Germans.
Are you British or French?
@@housinauthority5258 completely irrelevant what his nationality is the british and french got absolutely embarrassed. The french more so than the british. If it wasnt for the british the french wouldnt have a single pure blood in their ancestry. Every french would have German blood in them. And thats a damn fact
The Germans let them escape as a peace offering. The Germans never wanted war with France and England! Those two declared war on Germany! Not vice versa!
Germany was very concerned about the Communists of Russia, and their Bolshevik war mongers!
Germany would have preferred to have France and England as allies against the Communists!
@@BST-lm4po Yep
Thank you. 👍✌
It was a combination of: 1) German exhaustion after weeks of intense fightings against the well-defending 🇨🇵 troops 2) Lack of strategy in the highest 'Wehrmacht' rankings at this point of time about what to do 3) Hitler's intervention to stop the tanks based on his notoric misbelief that the 🇬🇧 would surrender after letting the BEF go (Hitler thought it is a perfect world when the 🇬🇧 rules the 7 seas + Nazi Germany the land masses ☝️ a misbelief because the Brits never wanted another European superpower next to them - look at history: the Spaniards, Napoleon, today: 'Anglo-Saxon supremacy: Keep the Germans down / Keep the Russians out') - Whatever the real / most important reason was it must have been good because 'The Black Swan' always rules the world well in the long run 🚀
Bullshit 😂😂😂. Hitler would have Destroyed the entire brtish Army at dnukrik , If he had Listend to His Generals .
This is the video showing the grit and determination of the French Army to counter the stereotypical "White Flag" surrender of the French Army. Not only did they fight bravely and assured the Allies to hold off the German invaders, but it also shows the "Molon Labe" stance they had against the Wehrmacht.
Lol France has been around for thousands of Years, what the fuck are you talking about?? France is probably the most glorious nation in Europe when it Comes to military, don't fall for the anglo propaganda
@@cardett75
You misunderstood he is saying France put up a brave defence and fought well. 'Molon Labe' means to be defiant in battle.
"Anglo propaganda" Lol like we give a fuck 80 years later.
Le Muppet.
@@eardwulf785 he said to "counter the stereotypical white flag surrendering" as if the french army need to counter anything in the first place, and certainly not propaganda comming clearly from ignorant anglo-saxon sphere (maybe more from the US) but still there's nothing to "counter" here, you just need to open a fucking proper History Book and leave the useless propaganda on the side.
@@cardett75 Counter =Opposite
So counter to 'what some people might think' etc etc
No need to be rude Frenchy the war ended long before either of us were born
@@eardwulf785 not trying to be rude, and i know what he meant, just saying there's no need to disprove, counter or oppose what is already so low in value in comparaison, again not trying to be rude, anyways thanks for your reply, and you're right this happen long before our time but those events are still being heavilly discussed and manipulated, and when you see things like the Christophe Nolan's Dunkirk movie, it becomes tiring at some point
Please remember that further evacuation took place in other ports such as St Nazaire and Cherbourg
Great video
It bothers me that Belgium is not yellow on this map.
Why? It doesn't bother me. And I'm a Belgian. One can do the most evil thing to Belgium. Still I'd shrug my shoulders. What do I care what happens to Belgium?
@@dirkgonthier101 don’t take it so seriously it was a joke
@@The__General I'm not taking anything seriously. I just don't give a shit about Belgium. I'm not the only one who thinks this way. The two most popular political parties in Flanders have Flemish independence in their political program and are 3 seats from gaining a majority in the Flemish parliament. Perhaps we can end the nightmare under which we're supposed to live (thanks to the Brittish, by the way, but I don't hold it against you).
@@dirkgonthier101 ok again I was making joke because in most maps Belgium is yellow. Funny haha joke
@@The__General Congratulations! :)))
No mention of the 51st Highland Division? That is a glaring omission and an insult to the troops involved.
If they fought at Dunkirk they are likely less prone to be offended then you are.
Not every division is mentioned, Axis or Allied. Given the fact that the French is just defined as "First Army" and they also where the rear guard of which many was captured.
So there is a bunch of Germans and French that should also be offended.
Eh? I don't think I heard any individual units mentioned from any side. No individual ships/boats either. It was a general over view of events not a list of credits. I reckon you'd've probably been better off using your comment as a little annex to explain the role of any units that you've got a particular interest in rather than going out of your way to be offended.
Frankly these documentaries was why I used to love the History Channel
Outstanding content!
The more likely reason why they were able to escape with much less casualties than they ended up having is this folks:
The leaders of the allied forces -under a difficult life and death do or die scenario , brilliantly defended to the best of their ability which was "just enough" to cause the German forces to believe that the allies had more troops and weaponry than they actually possessed. This , in turn, caused hesitation and some indecision as well as some of the various German divisions to be out of sync or rhythm with each other.
This better organized allied opposition was thus able to plug holes , make bold if risky counter attacks to impress or mislead the more powerful foe and to buy precious time.
Lesser factors include weather, and German high command incompetence.
Hitler taking pity theory factor? O.O.
added to which i would add the total misbelief at this time of the effectivness of bombers.the bomber will always get through was the maxim of the day! watch early propaganda and training movies for evidence! london was expected to have 300000 casualties in the first week and is why amongst other things the government advocated surrender after dunkirk.it was the battle of britain and its aftermath that largely exploded the myth .put simply it was like the ww1 belief that u boats alone could force a surrender! goering hitler and many british believed the luftwaffe would destroy the bef then britain in days! the truth was like the blitzkreig the germans had been incredibly lucky .the terrifying stuka for example which could win the war on its own was massacred and withdrawn from the battle of britain.the germans had no heavy bombers their blitz though effective did not wipe out the opposition nor cause for calls to surrender.the bomber though a very effective weapon until the a bomb could not win a war by itself.trouble was based mainly on the spanish civil war the legend of the bomber as the ultimate weapon had total credence in the minds of the germans and indeed the beleagured allies.the battle of britain showed its shortcomings on both sides.
The "taking pity" defense sounds exactly like what you'd say when you're humiliated by a smaller force.
A channel as calm as can be too. Nature helped.
My father was behind the panzers, with the BEF 1st Division force.
BEF 2nd Division was on the beaches as they were further north on the border with Belgium.
He told me his fiull account of his group of Camerons as part of the vast 1st Division force fighting tanks in fields and from hedges but eventially being pushed all the way down to the coast and sand dunes, then filtering down to Cherbourg and Rommel capturing them as POW's.
The 1st Division had been the furthest south force caught by surprise by fast moving panzers leaving the Ardenne Forest, The Maginot Line. He said German troops never fired a shot as they passed them at the Maginot Line and were waving goodbye at the British troops cheekily, many of which had been drinking wine and playing football with them the previous day.
Yes the British and Gernans were that friendly towards one another at the Ardennes the day before.
Everyone was really relaxed after months of nothimg happening. Playing football, cards, swapping food and drinks.
Amazing map and gfx. More of this
The problem with France was leadership. The individual French Soldier faught with tenacity, bravery and skill, Company and whole brigades were more than a match for the Germans. France was defeated because of its political and high command leadership.
Yes so the Brits are totally wrong to say that the french surrendered and raised directly the white flag without fighting. It's totally disrespectful for their memories but unfortunately I see too much comments like that. The problem was the French leaders who were totally unable to lead properly this battle.
@@MrShaaaaaaaaark If the problem "was the French leaders" how can you blame people for accusing the French of cowardice. Similar to how I can't blame the world for hating America right now due to all the crap our 45th president did when in office. To the outside world, he IS (more accurately, WAS) the United States.
Yeah thats why the invasion of germany by the french in 1939 went so well, the french army was stopped by a small german garrison almost all of the german army was in poland and the french were still afraid of a few garrison troops
This guy’s annunciation is quite impeccable to the leTTer
Nice video !!!!
Everyone knows it's because there was a DFDS ferry in their way.
Dunkirk was an act of Mercy. "The Chancellor" himself professed his admiration of Britain and how alike the English are to the German People.
Of course. Hitler was famed for his mercy and his liberal attitudes.
in war there should be no mercy that's why they lost lmao
@@god6384 There wasn't any mercy. Von Rundstedt halted the armour to rest & refit if for the second stage of the campaign, and Hitler believed Goering when Goering told him that the destruction of the Dunkirk pocket was a 'special job for the Luftwaffe.'
If it was then it was damn stupid of Hitler，and I am glad Hitler was so stupid。Eventually the UK acquired the US and USSR as allies and they all invaded Nazi Germany。
@@garciagar64 Saxons haven't ruled England since 1066. The last English/British ruler not to be born in Britain was George II, in 1683.
Britain: *Escapes Dunkirk*
Meanwhile France keep fighting in Dunkirk: Ayo, wtf?
Poles: ayo, that's what you fucks get 🤓
Czechs: FR
Some french were evacuated too.
The Brits were there as guests of the French. So it is logical to let them escape. Also, would you jump on a boat to sail to safety and let a foreigner die to defend your home? I don't think many French would think of doing that and feel good about it.
Fresh British troops were landing at Cherbourg at the same time they were evacuated from Dunkirk , there were substantial British forces still fighting below the Somme line after Dunkirk .
100,000 french were also evacuated to britain at dunkirk and tens of thousands of Brits stayed behind to hold the lines, you should research the 51st highland division.
I'm convinced Hitler hoped that in response to his holding back at Dunkirk, Britain would enter into talks with Germany which would eventually conclude with Germany leaving France and the low countries and Britain joining Germany on the eastern front. However I understand there was much more going on and at stake globally.
I'm not sure any of that makes sense. Can you explain?
@@matthewlee8667 Yes the the theory doesn't make sense on any level .
Hitler viewed the British as a potential ally against Communism, but in no way was he expecting them to just ally with him against the USSR, the British gained nothing from that sort of alliance.
Read my last two lines
@@eardwulf785 that still doesn't explain why Hitler would think such things. Also where are you getting this from?
It would be an interesting thought experiment to war game what the outcome of the French battle would have been if Napoleon was in charge of the French from a few years before the war began. He apparently said that an army in fortifications (Maginot?) have already lost.
Also basically never defended, and when he finally did... He lost :P
You don't need fortifications for offensive war, but they are handy while defending.
Most fortifications, pre ww1 was basically some buildings that got encircled.
Alamo is a good example of both the need of a fortification and the fact that you will lose.
There is a reason to why you are fortified and that's because you are about to get pummelled.
You will lose "more" without the fortifications.
@@perkalov in the case of the Alamo I think Santa Anna was waiting for Houston to attempt a rescue giving him the opportunity to defeat both armies which is why it held out so long, he wasn’t at first completely intent on it’s rapid destruction.
@@alexbowman7582
No, I agree.
But the point is that a fort is handy to have when defending, even if Napoleon didn't like them. (So would the Maginot line have been, had Nazi Germany just been good sports and rushed head first into them and avoided making use of flaws in the French plan)
It cost the Mexicans about 3 infantrymen for each Texan. It was a true pyrrhic victory.
In reality Santa Anna needed to take the fort, even if he tried to wait for Huston. He cant just leave 200 odd "rangers" behind him, pilfering his supply-lines.
What was the significance of Dunkirk?
It had a great psychological impact.
But in terms of direct military consequences it is easy to overestimate.
An invasion of Britain was never a real threat due to the strength of the royal navy and the Russian front was always going to be the deciding conflict.
Russian front had not exist yet at this year, and German master plan to invade British with Air force and Paratroopers, they could match Royal Navy by attacking from the air (which they did).
British could stop the invasion because of their negotiation with German Generals who dislike Hitler, and succesfull influence on Hitler's inner cycle by their secret service in Germany to execute Operation Barbosa instead.
British spies are the best in the world, but rarely get recognition by historians, and told us it was just fictional like in hollywood movies.
@@parashit2181 invading Britain by using paratroopers only is farcical.
Airborne attacks are fraught with danger and usually fail just like market garden did even with ground support.
Germany's airborne attack on Crete was actually a disaster in terms of casualties and that against weak opposition.
The idea Britain would succumb to an airborne assault is laughable.
Hitler did not invade Russia till June 1941 but it was always going to be the deciding front and Hitler's real and inevitable war-he even said so years before in mein kampf.
@@pato2200 Did the Dutch surrender because the German attacked them massively from the air that destroyed their beautiful cities? France was also aware of that and gave up on Paris. Both France and Dutch armies were still ready for the battle on the land but they couldn't handle German airforce superiority in the air. British was no different, They were short of pilots until American pilots volluntary help them.
Are you gonna change history or what? The axis won the battle of Crete, They only have 5k casualities, when the allies lost more than 23k men. Although I agree the paratroopers were not effective in small area, but we're talking about a British Island which have larger area to defend.
The Japanese succeeded on the South East Asia against British Malay proving that paratroopers were effective on a great area or islands, There's large scale of area to defend and you'll never know where your enemy is gonna land.
@@pato2200 And also Hitler didn't has to waste German resources on eastern front if they decided to continue to attack the British. So if we're talking about alternate history, please be aware of the time line. This video is talking about the event in 1940.
@@parashit2181 great Britain was also massively attacked from the air but not defeated. The dutch were not ready or a match for the wehrmacht and knew it.
France gave up not because of the threat of paratroopers landing in Paris or even air force assault but rather because after the defeat at sedan the Germans raced to the coast trapping the best French forces in Belgium and splitting them from Paris. Blitzkrieg and its panzers defeated France.
Britain survived because it was island.
Goering's claim that air power could defeat Britain proved false.
OK, 6th Army, you kicked some butt, now look at these vacation brochures on the little known city on Volga?
Nice video.
Why did Hess fly to England to try to set up a truce with the house of Hanover
Hess believed a two front war would lead to the ruin of Germany. He had a dream about this and decided to act on it. Hess wanted the UK and Germany to come to an agreement or an armistice to buy Germany time to plan its next move. That's the short version.
@@chriscarlone527 Adolf commanded Hess to fly into northern England around radar because, he wanted peace with England and France after he sent 24 peace offers of increasing leniency and not getting a response. That's the real version.
Star gazing, got lost. Lol
@@deutsch-amerikanisch8281 That's not true.
Because he was deranged and trying to escape the Russians who he knew were going to get to Berlin first.
They were attacking though !! The British and French fought a rear guard action of the perimeters of the pocket to delay the fall of Dunkirk so as many as possible could be evacuated !!
Good Video.
This was a very hotly contested auction, so well contested and called I still don't know who won after all that rapid hot bidding.
Giving your opponent the golden bridge to escape has advantages. You get the real estate, and don't suffer losses from a cornered desperate enemy. Anyway they left behind most of their equipment. It wasn't a free ride. A ship that took off 500 troops was sunk.
I think it was less about giving the British a sporting chance and more about the hope that he could get them onside against the Soviet Union. It was a misreading of the British and a big mistake.
Why would Hitler want to give the British a sporting chance？That would have been really stupid，even for Hitler。
@Tulak Hord Britain in fact sent Stalin aid when Hitler invaded the USSR。So did the US。
@Tulak Hord There was no likelihood that Churchill and Roosevelt would ever have become allies of Nazi Germany。They were too smart to fall for Hitler＇s lies。
@Tulak Hord Too late。Hitler had already gone to war with Britain when he invaded the USSR so he was stuck with a two－front war。
@Tulak Hord Churchill and Roosevelt saw Hitler as a threat and did not want Hitler to invade the USSR。When he did Churchill and Roosevelt sent aid to the USSR。Churchill was already at war with Nazi Germany since 1939。
Teaching your troops to escape & evade is a real tactic of war that paid off & is vastly underestimated.
Sure is and what about giving them equipment that's as good as the enemies and lorries to ride on rather then walking.
The eastern mole (jetty) is the one that is famous. The western mole was used by the french. The french colonels knew that if they used the western mole, the ships sailed down the coast. To drop off troops to keep fighting. Thus, it was avoided. Plus, many more ships were sunk in that area. The french had almost no naval vessels to support this making matters worse.
it was fighting all the way, people imagine that the BEF simply got in their trucks ( they were the only fully motorised army in 1940 ) and drove to the seaside to be picked up by the Navy. there was a lot of fighting and heavy casualties, whole battalions were virtually wiped out in the battles. But with the collapse of Belgium and the French collapsing by the day, there was no option but to retreat to the coast or be destroyed .. the Germans did keep attacking , but the terrain and frequent canals led to the panzers being halted because it was unsuitable tank country. Goering boasted he could hammer the Allies - he destroyed the town of Dunkirk - it was virtually levelled - but no the troops. thanks to the RAF maintaining control of the air during the crucial days. ships evacuating could not sail a direct line from England to France.. due to minefields and the Germans controlling the coastlines on either side of Dunkirk. the successful evacuation had a lot to do with early planning by the RN and the maintaining of discipline in the BEF and the professional French regiments - unlike the collapse in French B units where whole divisions fled or surrendered .. The Germans had superiority in tanks and aircraft ... and localised numerical superiority. the key to Blitzkrieg.. it should be noted there was also a SECOND BEF operating to the west who would remain in France almost until the Armistice.
Very good, informative video. I always wondered why the Germans didn't finish them off. This really breaks it down and explains a lot. Well done, as always! Please keep the outstanding videos coming and God bless you and your team, my friend!
My great, great grandfather on my mother's stepfather's cousin's side, Christopher Nolan, was there... in fact, he still has footage of what went down.
Good one
There is also the theory that The Chancellor wanted show his military who's in command, so that they don't get too full of themselves - they had shown a lot of initiative and free thinking up to that moment.
Because they were gentlemen and didn't want to slaughter their european brothers
And other lies German fanboys tell themselves at night
They didn’t have any problem slaughtering their European brother at Wormhoudt and Le Paradis .
@@iroscoe Allegedly. War crimes were judged with torture and no evidence, but "witnesses"
@@Only.D.G. There were German,French and British witnesses to Le Paradise there is no alledged about it .
Hitler always like and admire England, he also mentioned many times about how english soldier spare his lives in ww1, Hitler never declare war on England, Churchill however is war mongering who dream of world domination (thats why we all speak english) and racist as hitler himself, Churchill responsible of killing 2-4 million indians, UK at the time is colonize half of the world at every continent, from americas to china to india to africa, but still somehow they say Hitler want to conquer the world.
Did I miss it, or did you fail to mention that they thought they were too overextended because of Rommel's success?
No that was before the encirclement
@@arkhammemery4712 The Germans needed the pause, as much as the allies.
@@donaldclifford5763 The allies' situation was unfathomably more dire. The Germans were high on meth
@@arkhammemery4712
Yeah, but being high on crystal meth (to be precise) doesn't work forever. The German forces had been at it for quite a while.
@@perkalov It really doesn’t matter. The allies’ situation is untenable.
Excellent video!
I actually loved this 😎❤️.
👍👍👍👍👍
Where's the balkans at the 2nd world war
Coming
As my regiment was in the rearguard don't tell me that we owed it all to the French! .
Nice video
8:10 pls does anyone who knows this song/ost pls can you guys spill the title, long time i've been searching for that orchestra pls anyone 🙏..
Halfway into this video and you'd be forgiven for thinking Dunkirk was entirely a British event and that the French and the Belgian armies did nothing on the western Front. You'd be forgiven for thinking that that the BEF wasn't just 400,000 out of the 3,300,000 troops that had fought on the western front.
Only tangentially related, but when you get information about the Crimean war, you would think that it was an entirely a British affair, when the Brits, compared to the French, and especially the Ottoman Turks hardly had any skin in the game. You would think that the Brits won the war, when in truth, the performance of the British army as a whole was quite disappointing, and their presence quite small. The French had a better army than the Brits at that moment in time -more experienced, and with better command structure. But not to dis the Brits entirely, because the Crimean war was eventually resolved at sea, not on land, and there the British Navy quit herself much better than the army.
Ah yes, the classic french circle jerk
I don't understand why so many non-Brits e.g. La Raison believe there was an alternative that the BEF could have followed. I have heard words such as treachery and perfidious Albion used (elsewhere I hasten to add). If the BEF had collapsed and surrendered, British morale would also have collapsed and Churchill would have been removed and replaced by a Petainesque style leader choosing to negotiate a humiliating peace with Nazi Germany. In the long run, it was in French interests that those GB (+ c.100,000 French) soldiers got out of that particular disastrous theatre and be able to prosecute the war further. The alternative could have been a war far longer than six years with possible eventual Soviet occupation of Western Europe. I would add that I fully accept the bravery of the French army in holding the perimeter around Dunkirk. I have a great respect for French military and believe the French were so unlucky in terms of having their key industry located in the north-east and they didn't have the mass hinterland that the Soviets to full back on. French fine margins of error would prove so costly. Remember the vast numbers of Red army soldiers that surrendered in the first two years of fighting on the Eastern front which if Soviet geopolitics had been different, most probably have led to a different outcome. I hate the disrespectful term of surrender monkeys etc
I found this interesting, and informative. I’m afraid I found the narration grotesque, however. This is becoming practically the rule on YT. Are they using voice synthesisers?
5:20 Knowledgia becoming a meme for a few seconds
They thought the nice Tommies were just a bit of a joke, leave 'em alone!
El Alamein. Ouch!
Plot twist: They didn't attack, because they wanted to be in your video. If they did no one would ask why they didn't.
My great grandfather was at Dunkirk, he survived to the battle
Excellent.
The allies have level 10 fortification around dunkirk
As you say yourself 1:10 Germany and England are not natrual enemys and making peace was a good idea. The Germans didnt crush the British because the wanted peace with them. You must remember that it was England and France that declared war on Germany.
Given the clearly stated Anglo-French position on Poland it’s disingenuous to pretend that Germany’s actions against Poland didn’t constitute a de facto declaration of war .
The idea that letting the BEF go was more likely to bring about a favourable peace than capturing it doesn’t make any sort of sense .
@@iroscoe It dosent make sense ? Your comment dosnt make sense.
@@saxoragnhildssn5443 It really does .
After Hitler invaded Poland. The UK and France told him not to, but Hitler wouldn't listen.
@@aristedecomgmailcom That´s all true. But England and France had conquered half the world and would not let Germany expand eastwards. So THEY declared war against the germans.
When the decision to bm your 1 hp opponents goes horribly south:
The Panzer(s) were worn down and needed for Paris and the infantry had gone 3-4 days day and night on Meth.
Well now that I watched this video - I still don't know why the Germans didn't attack Dunkirk
Yes, many speculations but we don't really know what is right. Here is the last story I read about it, the words Rudolf Hess said to his doctor :
"We'll make a peace with England in the same way as with France. Only a few weeks back the Führer again spoke of the great value of the British Empire in the world order. Germany and France must stand together with England against the enemy of Bolshevism. That is why the Führer allowed the British Army to escape at Dunkirk. The English must see that and seize their chance. I can't imagine that cool, calculating England will run her neck into the Soviet noose instead of saving it by coming to an understanding with us".
They did. They *failed.*
The good question is not why germans didn't attack ? The good question is why they didn't reach the beach faster ? And the answer is: because few thousands of french soldiers have blocked them during several days causing extensive loss to the germans. The so-called ''Miracle of Dunkirk'' presents tommies as heroes, but without being disrespectful with the bristish, the only heroes of Dunkirk were french ( and also belgian and polish by the way). Stop french bashing :-)
7:54 minutes into guys ramblings....."it's a mystery." Click bait
Every video man every video
As with any complex fast changing ongoing situation I would say there was not one overall German decision or mindset that explains ‘why’. But I would imagine one overall opinion of the German command and troops would have been that they had the massive superior force and with the obviously defeated British army trapped against the sea so it was a lost cause for them and so only a matter of time until they had to surrender, just as everyone else had surrendered. Churchill on the other hand had another mindset.
What was the song used near the end of the video?
In the description is said it was Deep Horrors by Kevin Macleod
@@varzit8317 yeah I found out a month ago that that's false and it's not the right song.
In this and other worlds,a nice video daily in our respective lives and every generations that we would be born,good friends!!!:-D
Thank God for Hitler's blunders! We can really only speculate as to why he did not attack immediately. It was likely a combination of reasons including military and political. Politically, he may not have wanted to risk enraging the allies by needlessly slaughtering 338,226 troops. Militarily he was likely waiting to make sure his supply lines had caught up to the front line troops. Most likely he did not foresee that Operation Dynamo could be planned and carried out so swiftly.
I don't think Hitler cared much about slaughter, but more realistically most of the surrounded troops were likely to have surrendered. The probability is that, like most of his generals, Hitler regarded a surrounded army backed against the sea as trapped, whereas, by contrast, the British, with hundreds of years of sea power behind them, saw the sea as a large open highway.
TY 😊
Anyone know the music from 8.02?
rip to the moroccans who defended dunkirk even if they don't talk about them in history videos there a road callled after them, after they defended the retreat with their lifes away from home, i hope you make a video about them one day
Defended Dunkirk to live another day as a colonised people .
Wow, really? I should research
The soldiers from the colonies shouldn't have been implicated too much in this war.
We can't forget that the objective of the 'Battle for France' (which Dunkirk became a part of) was in fact to defeat France -- which the Wehrmacht did decisively. Von Rundstedt issued the infamous 'stop order', as mentioned here, to allow the infantry, which throughout the war lagged behind the Panzer Divisions, to catch up and also to re-fit the Mark I and Mark II German tanks plus the fragile Cech tanks involved in the arduous trip through the Ardennes. Von Rundstedt's focus was Paris. However, Gen. Heinz Guderian, backed by Rommel, was prepared to ignore the 'stop order' and continue on to Dunkirk. When Hitler arrived at Von Rundstedt's headquarters and heard of this defiance he backed Von Rundstedt's 'stop order' for two reasons: he had picked Von Rundstedt to lead this campaign (the original choice before Hitler got involved in the planning was to be Von Bock), and he wanted to show generals like Guderian and Rommel who was boss, in other words, to keep his generals on a short leash. It's that simple. The point of history here is not that the British escaped, but that it was the beginning of Hitler's open contempt and conflict with the German General Staff.
The french did well under hold and retreat orders. That must have been tough.
1:12 The German and British people are a historiclly related people - cousins. That's one reason you can dress the Brits in German uniforms to make believable WW2 movies. Hitler developed a respect for the toughness of the British from his WW1 experiences. One version of 1:12 is Hitler did not attack as he wanted a treaty alliance with the British.
Imagine what a combination that would have been!
You left out a couple of things
1st motorized vehicles were much more breakdown prone then they are today. Tanks even more so.
2nd this was the battle of FRANCE. France had to be knocked out. France's army numbered in millions. The forces that escaped were just a rounding number.
3rd a few hundred thousand men without arms, ammunition or supplies can hardly be called an army.
4th do you think Churchill would have thrown in the towel if he lost a few hundred thousand men? How many were lost in WW1?
You see the Panzer Divisions needed to rest and refit before attacking south. Lets imagine the results if the Panzers kept rolling and did not halt. Would they have taken the town of Dunkirk? Yes and without a fight. Would the British and the French just give up? I doubt it. The French didn't give up during their rear guard actions in the actual battle. So which way would they try to break out? If they attacked Dunkirk they had the prospect of some air cover plus naval fire support against tanks with little fuel, less ammunition and almost no infantry or heavy guns. If they went south to Paris the British army (which was mechanized) would have run into German infantry trying to speed march to catch up to the Panzers. They would have also run into the supply convoys for the Panzers sitting on the coast. This would have postponed the Panzers from being able to drive on Paris.
Lots of very good points. I think there’s maybe another couple worth considering. The speed of the German Blitzkreig was very effective in battle, and still a very new strategy. Petrol supplies in particular had to keep up with the speed of advance, and the logistics of this were very difficult, especially when you consider just how much fuel Panzer divisions need. I’ve read a figure of 7 gallons per mile, don’t know which era this is from or which tank it applied to, but even if it were 7 miles to the gallon, that’s a hell of a lot of fuel. The Battle of the Bulge in The Ardennes was lost primarily because the German tanks ran out of fuel, so that shows just how much of a factor it can be.
The other is that although the British managed to get a lot more of their army back, plus some French soldiers, they had to leave behind all their tanks, artillery, and weapons. As you say, this was a part of the Battle for France, something the Germans tried to do in WW1, and destroying the BEF was almost a minor distraction to the major objective of taking France itself. We, the British that is, were almost as vulnerable with the soldiers back as we would have been if they had been captured or destroyed. Providing an entire army with new weapons, tanks & artillery is a huge undertaking, so we were very vulnerable to invasion in terms of our land forces for quite a long time afterwards anyway. Our mobilisation of our forces, aside from our Navy which was the strongest in the world, would take a long time to reach the sort of levels where we could adequately defend ourselves against invasion.
So, was Dunkirk a major turning point in the war? In my view it probably wasn’t as big a mistake by the Germans as it’s painted, certainly not in the same league as The Battle of Britain and the mistakes the Germans made in changing their tactics part way through, or The Battle of Stalingrad, amongst many others. Obviously it’s a hell of a story, with lots of courageous acts by the Allies, but not one that decided the outcome of the war.